AS the macadamia industry continues to expand in Qld’s Wide Bay region, the demand for young trees increases with it.
With this in mind, the Australian Macadamia Society hosted a macadamia production nursery workshop this week with delegates visiting nurseries at both Hervey Bay and Bundaberg.
Demand for macadamia nursery trees is at an all-time high, with most commercial nurseries reporting a two to three year waiting period for trees.
The AMS estimates between 2000 – 3000 hectares of macadamias are currently being planted per year.
Delegates from a wide selection of both established commercial macadamia nurseries as well as other nursery operators who are in the process of establishing macadamia propagation facilities.attended the two-day event.
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The workshop covered nursery standards and hygiene, irrigation design and layout, grafting techniques, rootstock and scion wood selection, and pest and disease management.
Macadamia development manager, Leoni Kojetin, said the workshop was all about lifting the quality and standards of young macadamia trees and providing commercial operators with the knowledge and tools to implement best practice in the nursery.
“High quality nursery trees are essential for productive macadamia orchards, and production nursery skills (from propagation to delivery) are highly specialised,” Mrs. Kojetin said.
“This is an exciting time for our industry, as we continue to expand into new territory with new plantings and new growing regions.
“It’s the first time we have brought all of the nurseries together for an open discussion on the best way forward.”
Delegates took part in a formal conference before hitting the road to visit the Golden Grove Citrus Nursery, Torbanlea, Andersons Nursery, South Isis and Steinhardt’s Nursery, Farnsfield.
The workshop was partly funded by Hort Innovation, using the macadamia research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government.